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I'm a 29 year old chick living in the South. I'm married to Kim - happily married most of the time. Our daughter is 8-year-old Bailyn. I work in the I.S. Department of a nearby hospital. Oh, and I'm a pagan living in the Bible Belt.

I love reading, cuddling with Kim and Bailyn, working with computers, playing The Sims 2, and waiting anxiously for the release of Sims 3.

2005-05-23 - 2:13 p.m.
Yes, I'm Pagan.

Why does my Christian family make such a fuss about this? It's really insane. If I wait until a neutral time and mention different beliefs/philosophies, they will readily agree that I'm right or that my point is plausible. When it comes down to religion, though, I'm going to Hell because I'm pagan. I can't get them to see that "pagan" is a catch-all word that describes anyone who is not affiliated with any of the "Big Three" religions. Let's consult dictionary.com here:

pa�gan One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially a worshiper of a polytheistic religion.

Seriously, Christianity has vilified the word so much that my family is hung up on the WORD I use to describe myself, rather than being completely mortified by the BELIEFS the word represents.

I feel like doing a little FAQ booklet and bringing it to every family gathering, because it invariably comes up, and we discuss the same issues over and over again.

1. Why do you worship Satan?
I don't. Satan is a Christian creation. I don't believe in him.

2. It doesn't bother you to know you're going to Hell?
I don't believe in Hell. See above.

3. Do you and your friends sacrifice {children, other people, animals, etc} when they get together?
Yes, of course. That's why it's been all over the news about small children and pets going missing daily.

4. Really???
No, dumbass. I believe that life is valuable. I also believe that you get back what you give out. If I'm running around killing everything in sight, I'm probably in for a pretty miserable future.

5. Do you cast spells?
I dunno. I suppose you could call it that. It's not much different than Christian prayer, though. It involves incense, candles, focusing on what I want to happen, and requesting that the Divine Being intercede on my behalf.

Ya know, things like that. My sister saw a book called Pagan Parenting in my house yesterday, which prompted some pretty nasty comments about me damning my child to Hell. I calmly defended my choices, and pointed out that I am simply teaching my child my beliefs. My sister feels well within her rights to say, "Well, when they're a bit older, we'll have Hannah teach Bailyn our beliefs and teach her to think for herself." (Hannah is 9 months younger than Bailyn.) I told her she was more than welcome to do so, but to make sure she was ready for Hannah to have such a conversation, because without a doubt, Bailyn would share our beliefs with Hannah. I also told her that my entire goal was for Bailyn to think for herself and choose the relgious path that suits her without blindly accepting what she's been fed her entire life.

*sigh* I just don't understand why it's such an issue. Not to mention, the hilarious irony that she's "going to teach Bailyn to think for herself." You can't teach someone to do what you don't know how to do yourself! Sad that my family is so opinionated and bigoted that I had to devote an entire journal entry to them!

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